Council candidate Don Fedoruk's top priority is the downtown core, where he feels the city can do more to help both the businesses that exist there and the homeless population that needs a leg up.--Submitted Photo
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Attributing his campaign to a deep drive to help in struggling situations, Ron Fedoruk hopes to become part of the next city council.
He says he feels the city has been struggling for some time now and that his experience could be part of a solution.
Fedoruk has extensive experience within social work including as a juvenile probation officer, is currently president of the Medicine Hat Taekwondo Youth Foundation and was previously an owner operator of several businesses. He is confident , if elected, he will be able to help a new council form a consensus.
“I have the mindset of the stronger the downtown, the stronger of our entire city, and my commitment would be really pretty simple: tackling homelessness, improving the downtown safety and restoring pride in our city,” said Fedoruk.
He puts forward that a strong first step could be to instal 24-hour police substations in the downtown core and Flats areas of the city, allowing for an increased police presence where issues surrounding homelessness are most strongly felt.
The presence alone would help to deter ongoing issues such as theft, vandalism and similar issues, as well as allow officers to respond more quickly should more urgent problems arise.
“It would also send a clear message that council is prioritizing the safety of its community and the citizens,” said Fedoruk. “It’ll be low cost, but it’ll have a high impact; it will give the businesses that want to locate there another reason why they could locate there, and it will show the existing businesses that their concerns are being addressed.”
Fedoruk also advocates for a program that could connect the homeless population with work opportunities around town, such as a call line, to help those able to work to begin to build a financial base to improve their situation, in addition to ensuring those experiencing homelessness are better connected to resources.
“There are those that are in this situation with drug addiction or mental health issues. We need to pull in the resources that we have and improve on those resources to get those people the help,” said Fedoruk. “But those that are willing to work or able to work, that just need a hand up instead of a hands out approach, I think something like a community call line would be a good way to involve the community and to help these people get going.”
If elected, Fedoruk commits to a “fix and go philosophy” and to focus his efforts on what he feels lies at the heart of being a councillor, which is working with the community.
“What most of our job will be, besides doing budgets and dealing with legislative type issues, we’ll be working directly with the community,” said Fedoruk. “The community wants to know that whatever problem is unique to them, that they will have your attention. I think that is the most critical thing. People need to know that if something happens, they have the council’s attention. I’m prepared to offer myself in that capacity.”
As the election nears, Fedoruk will be active on his new website and social media pages to connect more with residents and share his vision for Medicine Hat, as well as door-knocking. Those interested in learning more regarding his platform are encouraged to visit experiencematters.today.
